Rats

Rats as most people know have the capacity to spread diseases damage property, food products and buildings making them a very serious Pest to our environment.

The Rat better known as the Brown Rat or Common Rat reaches 23cm plus and can have a further 17cm plus with its tail. They have brownish fur, very good swimmers, are fantastic at burrowing underground and can live pretty much anywhere. Rats feed on almost anything and are capable of breeding at a fast rate.

A Rat at 2 months can reproduce will have around 8 young and will do this up to 6 times a year. Life span 14 months, they will constantly knaw on things becoming quite destructive in the process of keeping their teeth worn down as they will keep growing throughout their life.

This is a picture beneath a kitchen unit under the work tops and behind the wooden boarders on the kitchen floors, the rats had been dragging bits of food foil packaging together with tissue from the kitchen, the rats were pulling them back behind the wooden boarders in a safe harbourage area, the black bits you can see are the rat droppings.

This picture is of rat dropping in a loft, the rats had come from the cavities via ground level outside by the drains.

This is the rat burrow with one of our cameras down showing where the rats have gone and also up through the cavities and into the attic/loft which you can see above (its the one with rat dropping on the loft insulation.)

Inspection of a rat in a kitchen area/pipes/holes in cavities.

Sometimes rats can be linked to broken drains and a hole the size of a fifty pence piece can be enough for a rat to pass through.

This is a picture showing the signs of rats in an attic/loft, you can see the tail swipes of the rats that are made in the dust.

As part of our full survey of your property we will survey the loft/attic area if there is suspected activity.

Here we have a rats nest that was under the loft insulation.

This is after treatment and rats nest cleared away.

This is below a drain cover and the rats were going up behind the pipes and then up towards the ground level drains which you can see below and from there they went up the cavity walls and in to the roof of the house.

Knowing your pests and getting rid of them.

The number one rule that applies to every situation that involves eliminating an enemy is to know it, knowing your pests and identifying them is the first step you have to make in order to eradicate them and prevent future possible invasions. Not only rats but squirrels also depending on your problem you have to make certain adjustments. In this section, we are going to talk about rats infestations.

You may wonder why rats see your attic as a five star hotel, the reason for this and why they see it as so attractive is because it is a safe, warm, inhabited place they can raise their families and make a nest.

Rats, A Problem

Despite that you have to keep in mind that these creatures are incredibly smart and organized, in fact, can be considered as one of the most smartest pests around.

They work in teams, and if you ever get one in your house, you can expect that you have more of them that you haven’t seen yet. They “explore” your house at late night hours (when everyone is sleeping), and when nobody is at home, their stealth and teamwork skills are beyond understanding (the reason why your house get infested). There are plenty of ways they can get in your house, even more ways to get in than squirrels, sewers, roof, pipes, windows, are some of them.

The way they get in your attic is through holes, windows, even your roof. You have to make sure your attic is sealed, and whatever little hole is a threat, they can perfectly chew through materials and gain access to your property.

Researchers have shown that rats over time have become more resistant to poison which means they are even more resistant and some poisons do not affect them now as it did 20 years ago, also that they are getting smarter, they have the capacity to learn from bad experiences, if you ever catch or kill one of them, it’s really difficult that they fall into the same trap again, because they are always watching, in fact, when you trap or kill one, its usually a novice of the litter, and the “leaders” are watching all their moves to not fall into the same trap twice.

Rat diseases

If the fact that they are adaptable and smart is not enough, the diseases they cause will. Rats have caused many diseases to humans along the years; they also cause a lot of harm to your belongings.

Having rats in your house besides illness risks, property destruction is the most common harm these particular animals cause; they can eat from plastic to soap. Those little teeth can chew almost everything if you are like most and use the attic for storage; rats will use parts of it for nesting material and tunnel through all your insulation leaving droppings and loads of urine behind.

The other and most important aspects are the illnesses they can cause you through waste, urine, and saliva, the list is quite big, some of them are:

Leptospirosis: is transmitted through their urine, symptoms are flues with high fever, sweating, muscular pain, shaking chills, and headaches.

Hantavirus: this is located in all three, waste, saliva, and urine and its main symptom is breathing problems; it mixes with the air and dust too.

Toxoplasmosis: the waste of the rats is the main transmitter, this illness is really dangerous for a pregnant woman, among the symptoms are headaches and muscular pain.

Trichinosis: is a parasitic disease, can cause sickness and even death, the symptoms are vomiting, headache, fever, muscular pain, stomach ache.

If you have or suspect that you share your house with rats call us now we can help 07548 217 421 For natures unwanted guests